Seam rolling machine



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 6, 1931. w. A. COTES SEAM ROLLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 8, 1927 Opt. 6, 1931-. w. A. coTEs I 1,826,506

SEAM ROLLING mcnnw Filed Au s, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheei 2 anonl om MiZz'am/ 60 (as Oct. 6, 1931. "w. A. COTES 1,826,506

SEAM ROLLING MACHINE Filed Aug. 8, 1927 3 Sheets Sheet- 3 Patented 06:. 6,1931

- 5 wrmiiniu a. ,co'rris or Lens ivd raronisan T FFICE ASSIGNOR T are MOTOR CAR COMP NY,

0 AnsIns, tric'nisnn, A CORPORATION or MICHIGAN 3 snnivr BOILING MACHINE *fli iie nb fi eahugust's, 1927. Serial noiz nssr. I

rThis inventionrelates to scam rolling machines and more especially to a novel con struction tending t0 s mpli y; lj 1 3 efficient and improve generally. devices of this-character. j g IThe. invention hasgamong its Objects to provide a machine of this character in which the-seam bending or pressure roller is profvidediwith -means for guiding the same jfollow the seam on-a tank, container or the- "whereby the bending roller may be caused to like-,.-which is irregular in cross section as, for-instance, a tankrectangular in cross sec:

tion ,Theinvention also contemplates the.

provision of means for automaticallysucces, sively increas ng the pressure exertedby" the bending roller uponthe seam so that the seam is gradually bent tighter untilfinished, togetherv with means for'autom'atically releasing the pressure roller at the completion of each operation. ,I The apparatus herein described alsorcontemplates means for'autoh atically stoppingithemachine at the end of each operation andof: a safety device preventing starting ofthef machine until the work is properly; placed. Y

The several: obj ects, advantages and novel viewed from-the rear thereof. i I I, a

Figure 3 is'an enlarged vertical'sectional' rdeta-il's ofpconstruction of this invention will 1 be made more apparentfas this description proceeds, especially when considered in connection with their accompanying drawings wherein: U =j I Figure 1 is a perspec tive view of a machine as viewed from the front-thereof. 5 Figure 2 is a perspective view of a machine 7 view partly "in elevation 'showingthe ,rolling,"machine and its associated 'mecha v Ail i l.f 'Figi reft-isiasimilar view withthe-bend ing-memb'er 1.11 released position.

' Figure 5" is adetailielevatlonal' v ew.

Figuretiis a semi-diagrammatic view showing a tank with the heads in position to have the seams thereof rolled,,and' j 1 Figure '7 is a semidiagrammatic view of one end ofthe tank after the seam has been rolled.'.-. Y

Referring now particularly to the drawings'wherein likereference characters indicate like parts and more especially vto heads I-Ito a tank T. Each head H is pro videdwith a peripherally return-bent portion forming a fiange F which is open to receive the adjacent end of the tank body T and the machine forming the subject matter of this invention is adapted to roll the flange F downwardly so as to form a'tight seam with the flange F bent against the body T as clearly shown in Figure 6. During rolling the seam-is formed with an oiiset O which serves to clinch or look the same'as will be clearly apparent from Figure 7.

Referring now more particularly to Figuresl to 5 inclusive, it will be noted that the machine includes a table-like base or support 10 which may be conveniently mounted up onlegs 11. ,Rotatably journaled in supports 12 rising from thebase' 10 are heads 13 which are adapted to receive and support the tank heads H during the seam rolling operation. Each head 13 is carried by a shaft 14' and is adapted to be rotated through gearing not shown in detail. It is sufficient only to; state that gearing is provided for rotating the pair of-heads 13 synchronously. In order to facilitate the placingof the work one of the heads .13 is adjustable'and by reference to Figurebit willbe noted that while the shaft 14: whichcarries this head is rotatable by means'of gearing such; for instance; as'the gears '15 and 16, nevertheless a sleeve 17 is associated with the shaft 14; which sleeve is provided with teeth 18 which mesh with a pinion 19 fixed to a shaft 20, which shaft is rotatable by means of a handle 21. The width of the gears and 16 is such that even'when slid relative to one another these gearswill still' 'remain in mesh." In Figure 5 the head 13 is shown-retracted but when the handle 2'1is rotated toward the right or in a clockwise direction sleeve 17willbe slid through bearingsupport' 12 and as a consequence will slide shaft 14 together with head 13 and gear 15 which will project head 13 toward its companion head. Inasmuch as the work is placed in positionby first locating heads H upon the respective heads 131and then positioning the body T thereb etween a movement ofone of 'the heads 13 -toward the other will bring the tank heads Hinto such a position that the ends ofithe tank body will enter the recesses formed 7 by the return; bent; flanges F where jupon the tankf'body is supported and the v seams are ready for rolling.

,Associated with each heiadflS is aseam roll- 1ng," -or work engag ng'imember whlch con sist's oit' 'an arm22 carry'lnga seam engaging roller23 at one end thereof. The-other end of leverf 22 is preferably sleeved as at 24 and ,roekably' journaled' by means of this; sleeve I upon a shaft 25. "This shaft extends longitu- 1 of the machine a d' is mounted in bearingsupports26 Asso eiated with each' rolling member is a control or guiding member, consisting of fan farm 27- provided with a roller 28 at one endthereof, the other 1 end'zbeingl" sleeved as fiat -29 and also'rockably journaledfonshaft 251 Lever 27vis provi'ded with {a short arm 30 1' which extends 1 'to the other 3 side of shaft 25 and journaledin the 5 end of-this short armSOis a shaft 81. Fixed to rotate'yvith 'shaftBl'is a ratchet Wheel 32 and mm 33 providedwith a cam surface 34 and a reee'ss A dog 36is pivotally meunt-.

57 to'a fixed part ofthe ma'chine as; for I instance, the support '26 and-this dog 'is normally 'urgedinto engagement with ratchet I wheel32bymeans eta-spring 3 81 *Pivotally connected to leverf22 as" at 39 is ;a eoupling member infthe;form"of a bell crankj'segment "40; Afrollerx4ll-jb ll l ale dl on the. coupling member 40' is adapted to engage camps, the

-couplingniemberbeing also provided 'vvithan inaehine asat 1 adjustable'stop '42 ':engagea hle with the lever j ofas'et screw which may be adjusteoli and v I secured in its 7 1 lock-nut43f dj Listed position means of a jA ssoci'ated eaghahad 13 is a 7 master cam- 44" a withwhi ch rollerf28 'ot 5 arm is adapted; to engage-j; Thusu'pon" rotation of H ea'ch head'thi camv 44 ass( )ci atec l therewith rocks or oscill'ates'farm 27 and by ;reason "of them chanismj-t" f p -i11' a' 1'nann r to be moreft ully hereinafter set t pifleviously' described-and forth; liend'ingjinemberlj22;is rocked to mainroller '23 in engagement with ing nega -ha fwhee1"f32 for a pear more fullyhereinafter; 48' f: hish'ell crank lever is bonnecte'dfiby bu p s ap mama's o zif r6d149 ta-a ten cranklever fiOpiv- 'otal'ly connected asfat Site the base lO o'f the machinei, v "The otherl 'end 52 or this bell crank lever constitutes a handle by means of" which flier/$135211? gf may be operated;

' iBy com' arison of Figures 3'and4the opera tion the me ch'anis'ni thus tardeseribed will at at base 101 bettev p I b'ellfcrankj46; an erid 'Q of which 'constitutesastep upd gror advanc The other end bemoreapparent. The seam bending member 22 and the guiding member 27-are capable of independent oscillation"i1pon shaft 25. H0wever,they, are coupled together for synchronous oscillation by means of the bell crank segment 40 whichbears through the adjustable stop 42 against lever 22 and by V means of roller "41 which: engagescam 83. Thus with'roller 23 engaging the seam to be rolled and iroller 28 bearing against master cam 44 this latter cam, wh'en rotated will rock lever 27 and will consequentlyrock lever. 22

and cause the same to follow the. rectangular cross sectionof the tank. As will be apparent from Figure 4 when roller 41jreposes in recess 35'y'ot cam 33 levers 22 and 27 will be permitted to move apart to assumetheir inoperative position-2 and at thistime the rota tion of the work piece is stopped and; the completedwork piece removed and anotherfinserted. In starting the machine the ratchetwheel 32 is steppedfl up' byo p mt i t dog47 through handle 52 to-thusrotate cam 13 is 'started and as thelevers' 22 27g'oscill ate 33 sutficientlyto bring roller 4l lout of recess 35 and into, engagement with the' beginning of cam surface 34." The rotationof the heads about shaft 25 "ratchet-wheel 32 is" inconse- .r'quence rockedin' an a'reuatepath about shaft 25 -In consequence of the engagement of dog 36 therewith, it being understood that this dog i'smount edto a fixed part, a rotation of r'atch-' etwhee1-32 re'sults in the directionof arrow A, see F1gt116-3{- This movement ofratchet wheelfoauses a similar movement of cam 33,

which through roller 41, bell eranksegment 40 and stop pin 42 exerts apressu-re. againstlever '22 causin-g'the same to movei't'owardlever 27 and. thus exert a successively"increasing pressure upon the seam belng'rolled. iTh s actlon continues until one; oompletei-revolutlon of cam-'33 whereupon ro11er541 again-drops into i recessi35 thereby again permitting farmsf22 and "27 to m ove awayfro one anothen. At such time the seam has been rolled tightly as shown in Figure 7 ofithe drawings. 'In order to automatically stopthe' 'rotation ofthe heads 1-3 at the completion oii each seam rolling operation the -followingicon+ struction' is provided? I When the levers 22 andf27 moveapart' lever 27"fdrops away fr0mc'am 44 by gravity and engagesa' pin 53 which extends" upwardly through-the base 10 to point immediately under lever 27;. This pinis piyotally connected .as at"54 to an "arm 55fixet il"to a shatt56 journale'dfinthebedof the machinezvAlso;fixed-to shaft" 56is' an arm 57 to hich is'e 'onne'cted a-rod58; -This rod extends longitudinally ozt'f the machine and operates a clutch (not shown) contained in clutch housing =59. Thisclutch may be conveniently employed for connecting or disconnecting a constantly driven shaft driven by pulley-wheel 60 to drive shaft -61 which extends longitudinally of tliemaehine and is connected by suitable gears" (not shown) to i' the shafts 14 upon which the heads 13fare head 13' has beenprojectedtoward the other head; a constrnction is provided: as follows:

Fixed to shaft 56 is an arm '62which is connected by a link 63: to an arm; 64: fixed upon shaft 65. This shaftis rotatable by means ofa handle66 and upon rotation'will actu ate rod 58 to cause engagement of the clutch to start the machine. 'However, also mounted upon shaft 65 isza safety dog 67 which is adapted to enter a recess 68 formedin a fratchet wheel 69 fixed to rotate with shaft when handle 21 is oscillated to bring head 13 into operative position. However as seen 1n Flgurefi, when head 13 1s retracted or I out ofoperative position recess 68 1s out of registration with dog 67 so that should an attempt be made to operate handle 66 to start the machine it will be impossible to complete the clutch engaging operation as the dog 67 will Contact with the periphery of the ratchet wheel 69 to prevent further movement of lever'66. However, after handle 21 has been operated to move head 13 to operative posi tion recess 68 will be opposite dog 67 and handle 66 will then be operated to cause an engagement of the clutch to start the machine. It will be obvious that themaster cam 44 will be'designed with reference to the contour of the tank or container orthe like which is to beseamed. Thus While the master cams herein illustrated are shownas of a particular des gn or configuration tlllSdGSlgIl of cam is peculiar to the cross sectional shape of the tanker work piece herein illustrated. It

will likewise be understood that any type or I design of drivingmechanism' may be pro- 'vided and for this reason the particular construction and arrangement of gears has only been briefly referred to as th s forms no essen- Y tial part of this presentinvention. Likewise many of theessential and all of the nonessential details of the"invention 'may be ment of said seam rolling member for actuat-,

alteredwitl'iout departing from the spirit and scope of this invention and to this end reservation 1s made to make such changes as may come within the purview of the accompanying claims.

. Vhat I claim as my invention is: i '1. In a machine of the class described,

means for rotating a work piece, a seam roll-- ing member, a pressure control means therefor, means for moving the seam rolling mem-' her in conformity with the contour of the seam, and means actuated by the said moveing said pressure control means. 2. In a machine of the class descrlbed,

seamrolling member, a control means therefor and meansfor successively increasing the pressure of sa1d seam rolling'member on sald seam including a cam and an automatically operated ratchet for-actuating said cam.

3. In a machine'of the class described, a

seam engaging member, a control member ried by the'other memberandv engageable by said ca-m for increasing the pressure exerted by .theseam engaging member.

' 4.;In' a seam rolling machine, a seam e111 gaging. member, means for oscillating said member to cause the same to follow the seam of'a'" rotating tank rectangular in cross 'sec tion,xand means actuated by the said oscilla tion of said seam engaging member for successively increasing the pressure of said member upon said seam.

5. In a machine of the class described, a seam engaging member, a control member therefor,'ratchet controlled cam means for moving" said seam engaging member to cause the seam to gradually increase the pressure exerted thereby upon the Work and means for rendering said'member inoperative.

6. In a machine. of the class described, a seam rolling member, a control member therefor, automatic means for moving said seam rolling member in a direction in which it exertsa successively increasing pressure upon said seam and means operable after a predetermined time for rendering said memberinoperative. v

7. In a deviceof the class described, means for rotatingv a work piece, a seaming member engaging the work piece. a control member therefor, means for oseillatably mounting said members,.a cam engaging said control member for oscillating said members and,

"therefor, (means for oscillatably mounting saidmembers, a cam engaging said control member for oscillatin g said members and automatic means for holding said members in'engagement with said work piece and cam respectively for a predetermined period.

9. Ina device'ofthe class described, means for rotatinga work piece, a seam rolling member engaging the work piece, a control member, I therefor, means for oscillat-ably mounting said members, a cam engaglng said control member for oscillatingsaid members and means forholding said members in operative position including means for relatively moving said members to cause said seam roll- Iigmemberto exert asuc-ccssively increasing pressure u pon thework.piece, g I 10. In a deviceof the class descrlbed, means for rotating awork. piece, a rotatableca-m, a seam engaging member, a control member therefor engageable' with said' cam, means for oscillatably.mounting said members and means .for preventing. independent oscillation of said members for a" predetermined periodf 1 device-"of the class de'scribed,

seam.: n

'12. In a m V oscillatable seam rolling member, 7 an {oscillatable control" member therefor, a shaft uponwhichsaidmembers aremounted, acam V l V carried by one of said members, dog and ratchet means for automatically operating said cam, a bell crank lever pivotally, mounted upon the other member, one end of said lever engaging SQId-HIGHIbGI and the other end of a SilId leVGr being lnfiuenced by'SElJdlCfl/Hl for changing the relativepositions oisaid mem- 13; In a machine of the class described which the'lworkjis rotated, a rotary cam, a

1 said member is ioscillatably mounted, a controllever having one end engaging said cam and oscillatably mounted intermediate 1 its ends'uponsaid shaft, a cam carried by the ."other end of said lever, means for actuating said'cam upon anoscillationofsaidlever rolling member is moved with successively increasing pressure against said work. I

14:. In a device of the class descr1bed,the

- combination with seam rolling mechanism andmeans forrenderlng SZtlClIIlGQhIIllSHl 1noperative 1 at" predeterminedz'intervals, of a a driving mechanism andmeans operated by said seam rolhngmechamsm when inoperative for disconnecting said drivingmecha- 5.4111 a deviceiolztlie @1533" described the combination with seam rolling. mechanism in- "cluding a control member means operable at'predetermlned intervals for rendering said means inoperative wherein said control of the. class described,-lan

preventing actuation efjsaid starting lever until {said head is shiftedfiinto operative position, 4' v l v r c 17. In;a device of the class described, a

movablewor'k engaging head, means including a shaft-for moving said head,- ajstarting levers and a "dog operated by said lever and engaging [said shaft, to prevent actuation of I said s'tartinglever until said-head isinoperative position. a W Y a, 4 In testimony whereof'lafiix my signature.

' seam rolling member, a shaft upon which means carriedby said seam rolling mem- .b'e'r, engaging-said cam whereby said seam member drops by gravity, of a driving l mechanism for'said device including a clutchv V and means operate'd'by said ,control member for disengaging said clutch; s r a 16". In a device of the class -described," a movable work engaging head, means for shiftingsaid head, a starting lever and ineans V I so 

